Train ’em, Trust ’em,….

I have said this so many times it is almost becoming cliche’.. but I’ll say it again…
TRAIN ‘EM, TRUST ‘EM, AND LET THEM LEAD!

Last night the SPL of our Troop held the Patrol Leaders Council meeting. Because of a work conflict, I knew that I was not going to be able to be there, but two of the Assistant Scoutmasters of the Troop would be attending to maintain a safe environment and open up the meeting hall.
I called into the PLC for my two minutes of points that needed to be passed on from the committee and things that I thought needed to be attended to. It was fun for the Scouts to be on a conference call with the Scoutmaster. The SPL put his iPhone on speaker mode and placed it in the middle of the table.
I spoke my piece and asked if any one had questions.. then said good-bye.
Later that evening I got a call from… yeah.. you guessed it.. “Frustrated Dad”. He wanted to know why I was not at the PLC meeting and who was running this show? Well the answer to the second part was obviously easy.. The SPL is running the show. As to why I was not there.. Work, sorry, moving on.
Once again I had to explain to him that I trust the SPL. I know that he has been trained and mentored well and that we had talked before the meeting so he could bounce he agenda off me. He will be shooting me an email sometime today also to recap the meeting. Not that I asked.. he just does it.
When we train the Scouts, trust them to do the right thing, and let them do the leading.. they do pretty darn good. The decisions that they are making, planning for, and executing are shaping them to be better leaders. They are practicing communication skills, working with others, and yes learning from mistakes also.
The question was asked, “How can you teach them if you are not there?” Well, I said, I am there.. I am there for them always. I will be able to coach and teach the SPL when ever he needs it. Again, going back to the prep work that the SPL did before the meeting. That was a good time to coach, and I did.
Remember that Baden-Powell told us never to do what a boy can do for himself… well that does not stop at setting up his tent and fluffing his pillow.. that is directed at the leadership of the Troop. Never lead the Troop.. that is why they hold elections and serve.
I had to remind Mr. Frustrated that none of the adults in Boy Scouts have the word “LEADER” on their patch.. That stops at DEN LEADER…

Well, I am proud of our PLC, they held a meeting, that I am sure went well, they are leading the Troop, which I know is going well, and they are having fun.

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One thought on “Train ’em, Trust ’em,….”

Mr Frustrated has a son in several troops it seems. He has two in our troop! You handled it well. Mr.
Frustrated in our troop is mad that his life scout (joined our troop at that rank a year ago) is not the SPL (sadly he did not get a single vote), and why I did not help earn any merit badges. I reminded him that I have had 4 SM confernces with his son to set his goals to become Eagle and provided the merit badge list. The rest was up to his son. As for SPl- well it is not my choice the Scouts choose their own leader. Sometimes I think Mr. Frustrated hinders his son more than he helps!

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